Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
the active list and whiling his time away ashore on half pay or no pay.
So he now put his vessels into the best possible trim for the west-
ward voyage.
He made for Chequeton, further up the coast because Dampier
had reported, 'A mile and a half from the shore there is a small key
and within it a very good harbour where ships may careen. There
time before embarking on the empty Pacific the men availed them-
selves of fresh meat (mainly from birds shot in woodland close to
the shore) and limes and other antiscorbutic fruits. They filled the
water butts and carried out all possible repairs. Ropes, sails, spars
and tackle were brought from the prize ships to the
Centurion
and
Gloucester
for Anson decided to scuttle the Spanish vessels and take
from them whatever was usable for his men-of-war. The decision
was not well received by his officers. Cutting down the fleet deprived
some of them of command and that, in turn, deprived them of ma-
jor shares of prize money. In fact, the commodore had no alternat-
ive. The total complement was now so depleted that he had scarcely
enough men left to man two ships, let alone five.
Seven thousand miles lay between the voyagers and the Mari-
anas when they set sail on 6 May 1742. It was a frightening prospect.
One traveller had described the Pacific crossing as 'enough to des-
troy a man or make him unfit for anything as long as he lives'.
18
With favourable winds and good weather they could have made the
crossing in seven or eight weeks. In fact, they were at sea for 114
days. Once again it was ignorance which was their worst enemy. An-
son had calculated on picking up the NE trade winds. What he did
not know was that the anticyclonic pattern producing these winds
moves with the seasons. In the northern summer it shifts to the
north, leaving the equatorial region in the grip of the doldrums.
The
Centurion
and the
Gloucester
made course virtually due west in
about 13°N. and soon ran into the depressing region of light airs,
